My name is Makenzie and I'm a first-year student at the University of Tulsa. I'm raising funds for a five-day mission trip to Belize through Medical Brigades. Medical Brigades is housed under Global Brigades, an international non-profit that empowers communities to meet their health and economic goals through university volunteers and local teams. Their mission is to inspire, mobilize, and collaborate with communities to achieve their own health and economic goals. You can learn more about Medical Brigades in this short Youtube video or on their website.

The communities in rural Belize have an immense lack of clinics, medications, and physicians (the physician density in Belize is 10.4 doctors for every 10,000 people, as compared to 29.7 doctors for every 10,000 people in the US). On my trip, I will work alongside local health professionals to provide medical clinics in these communities as we endeavor to address their needs.

This opportunity excites me for several reasons. I'm passionate about serving others, and this is a highly tangible way to do that. I'm also considering pursuing long-term medical missions post-graduation, and this trip would offer an invaluable experience in medical missions. Additionally, I'm excited that the trip is in Central America, as I've studied Spanish for five years and am continuing my studies in college - I love everything about the language. Such complete immersion in Belize's language (even though English is Belize's official language, Spanish is most widely spoken there) and culture would be an irreplaceable experience.

I'm very excited for this opportunity and am so grateful for your support! Thank you!